Site Automation extends the new technology of robotics in building-component manufacturing and construction to on-site structured environments and on-site automated factories.

The overwhelming majority of a software system’s lifespan is spent in use, not in design or implementation. So, why does conventional wisdom insist that software engineers focus primarily on the design and development of large-scale computing systems? In this collection of essays and articles, key members of Google’s Site Reliability Team explain how and why their commitment to the entire lifecycle has enabled the company to successfully build, deploy, monitor, and maintain some of the largest software systems in the world. You’ll learn the principles and practices that enable Google engineers to make systems more scalable, reliable, and efficient—lessons directly applicable to your organization. This book is divided into four sections: Introduction—Learn what site reliability engineering is and why it differs from conventional IT industry practices Principles—Examine the patterns, behaviors, and areas of concern that influence the work of a site reliability engineer (SRE) Practices—Understand the theory and practice of an SRE’s day-to-day work: building and operating large distributed computing systems Management—Explore Google's best practices for training, communication, and meetings that your organization can use

For some, automation will usher in a labor-free utopia; for others, it signals a disastrous age-to-come. Yet whether seen as dream or nightmare, automation, argues Munn, is ultimately a fable that rests on a set of triple fictions. There is the myth of full autonomy, claiming that machines will take over production and supplant humans. But far from being self-acting, technical solutions are piecemeal; their support and maintenance reveals the immense human labor behind "autonomous" processes. There is the myth of universal automation, with technologies framed as a desituated force sweeping the globe. But this fiction ignores the social, cultural, and geographical forces that shape technologies at a local level. And, there is the myth of automating everyone, the generic figure of "the human" at the heart of automation claims. But labor is socially stratified and so automation's fallout will be highly uneven, falling heavier on some (immigrants, people of color, women) than others. Munn moves from machine minders in China to warehouse pickers in the United States to explore the ways that new technologies do (and don't) reconfigure labor. Combining this rich array of human stories with insights from media and cultural studies, Munn points to a more nuanced, localized, and racialized understanding of the "future of work."

Automation and Robotics in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Industry provides distinct and unified insight into current and future construction robotics, offering readers a comprehensive perspective for constructing a road map and illuminating improvements for a successful transition towards construction robotization. The book covers the fundamentals and applications of robotics, autonomous vehicles, and human-perceptive machines at construction sites. Through theoretical and experimental analyses, it examines the potential of robotics and automated systems for current and future fieldwork operations and identifies the factors that determine their implementation pace, adoption scale, and ubiquity throughout the industry. The book evaluates the technical, societal, and economic aspects of adopting robots in construction, both as standalone and collaborative systems, which in return can afford the opportunity to investigate these AI-enabled machines more systematically.

Issues in Robotics and Automation / 2011 Edition is a ScholarlyEditions™ eBook that delivers timely, authoritative, and comprehensive information about Robotics and Automation. The editors have built Issues in Robotics and Automation: 2011 Edition on the vast information databases of ScholarlyNews.™ You can expect the information about Robotics and Automation in this eBook to be deeper than what you can access anywhere else, as well as consistently reliable, authoritative, informed, and relevant. The content of Issues in Robotics and Automation: 2011 Edition has been produced by the world’s leading scientists, engineers, analysts, research institutions, and companies. All of the content is from peer-reviewed sources, and all of it is written, assembled, and edited by the editors at ScholarlyEditions™ and available exclusively from us. You now have a source you can cite with authority, confidence, and credibility. More information is available at http://www.ScholarlyEditions.com/.

This book is intended to be used as a textbook in undergraduate civil engineering and construction courses to introduce cutting edge mechanical, electrical, and computer science topics that are needed for civil and construction engineers to collaborate in inter-disciplinary automation projects. Part I introduces the basics of hardware and software technologies that are needed for implementing automation in buildings and construction. The content begins with the fundamental concepts and uses practical examples to bring out the benefits of automation through case studies that are easy to understand. No other book uniformly treats the subject of automation within the context of buildings and construction activities. While the technology needed for these two application domains are similar, the unifying principles are not well recognized. This book will bring out the fundamental principles that could form the basis of application to these two domains. For example, it will become clear that sensors, actuators, and controllers, along with smart control strategies could be used for automating tasks within buildings and on construction sites. Part II of the book will introduce key advances in the areas of machine learning and artificial intelligence that are significant for the intelligent control of buildings and construction equipment. Control algorithms and techniques for data analytics are explained in a form that is appropriate for non-computer science students. Each chapter contains several hands-on exercises meant to apply the principles that are covered. These include numerical problems as well as design and analysis examples. This new textbook: • Introduces hardware and software needed for automating engineering tasks • Presents examples of applications in the control of building systems • Illustrates of the use of automation for improving construction processes • Provides a lucid introduction to advanced computing concepts, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and control algorithms to construction and engineering students. It is sure to be essential reading for a growing number of courses in smart construction, building automation, robotics, intelligent buildings, and construction 4.0. Supplementary material including answers to exercises in the book will be provided on the author’s website: https://bennyraphael.com/book2022/

Sourced from international experts, this book presents papers dealing with a wide range of soft and hard research issues at various stages of development in the field. Some cover entirely new ground, whilst others reflect progress on the sometimes frustrating path to truly robust technology. Of particular interest are contributions discussing issues of exploitation and commercialisation, the integration of end products within the design and construction processes incorporating information technology (IT) and the impact of the emerging technology on the culture and organisation of the construction industry. A mark of growing maturity is apparent in the coverage of health and safety and related social issues. This is complemented by a clear commitment to the consideration of human factors and the environment. It is hoped that by promoting a wider debate on the matters of future technology and its horizons, on the identification of what industry needs from the research and development community and on building effective partnerships between academia, industry and government, the publication not only addresses the practical commercial obligation to seek robust solutions for today's problems, but will stimulate research for the years to come.